Solution: A wheel of radius R = 0.20 m is mounted with frictionless bearings about an axle through its center. A light rope is wrapped around the wheel and an object is suspended from the free end of the rope. When the system is released from rest, the object descends with linear acceleration a = 3.0 m/s2 and the tension in the rope is 50 N. What is the moment of inertia of the wheel for rotation about the axis through its center?

Problem

A wheel of radius R = 0.20 m is mounted with frictionless bearings about an axle through its center. A light rope is wrapped around the wheel and an object is suspended from the free end of the rope. When the system is released from rest, the object descends with linear acceleration a = 3.0 m/s2 and the tension in the rope is 50 N. What is the moment of inertia of the wheel for rotation about the axis through its center?